Percentage of US Adults Who Think Israel Has 'Gone Too Far' Surges

Half of U.S. adults now think that Israel has "gone too far" in its assault on Gaza, a poll released Thursday by The Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research has found.

That's up 10 percentage points from an earlier version of the poll conducted from November 2-6. During the second round of polling, from January 25-28, the International Court of Justice ruled that South Africa's case accusing Israel of genocide in Gaza was plausible and that Israel must "take all measures within its power" to avoid committing genocide. In early November, the death toll in Gaza approached 10,000. Nearly three months later, it surpassed 26,000. The United Nations estimates that 40% of those killed in Israel's assault have been children.

"These kids... they're needing the end of this," 36-year-old Melissa Morales, an independent voter from Runnemede, New Jersey, told AP. "It's such an unfair fight."

The latest poll surveyed 1,152 adults using NORC's probability-based AmeriSpeak Panel, which is assembled to accurately reflect the views of the wider U.S. populace. It found that, overall, most of the growth in opposition to Israel's handling of the war came from Republicans and Independents. In November, 58% of Democrats thought Israel had "gone too far" versus 63% in January. However, the number of Independents expressing disapproval swelled from 39% to 52% and the number of Republicans from 18% to 33%.

Given that President Joe Biden has strongly supported Israel since Hamas' initial attack on October 7, the growing opposition to the war among Independents like Morales could hurt him with swing voters in the upcoming 2024 presidential election. Morales told AP that she thought Biden's backing of Israel had gone too far as well.

Overall, Biden's approach has lost support since polling in December, The Hill reported. Among all voters, support has fallen six percentage points from 37% to 31%. However, among Democrats, it has fallen by 13 points from 59% to 46%.

At the same time, the poll reveals fissures in the Democratic base, according to AP. While around 50% of white Democrats and almost 60% of older Democrats approve of Biden's response to the conflict, around 60% of non-white Democrats and around 70% of Democrats under 45 disapprove.

Around 70% of Democrats who disapprove of Biden's response think it is extremely or very important for the U.S. to assist in brokering a permanent cease-fire. Earlier Reuters/Ipsos polling found that 68% of U.S. residents overall back a cease-fire.

The latest AP-NORC poll found that voters of all stripes are concerned that Israel's war on Gaza will ignite a broader Middle East conflict, with half saying they are extremely or very concerned about such a possibility.

AP noted that the second round of polling came as the first U.S. military personnel lost their lives to escalating regional violence, with the killing of three U.S. troops in Jordan.